Fish-cleaning mechanism.



E. P. FOLLETT. FISH CLEANING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 28. I915- RENEWED APR. I8. 19!].

Patented May 29, 1917.

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Patented May 29,

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nirn s'ra EDWARD B. FOLLET'I, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA.

FISH-CLEANING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 1917.

Application filed. .Tune 28, 1915, Serial No. 36,796. Renewed April 18,1917. Serial No. 163,038.

1 '0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. FOL- Ln'r'r, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State ofMinnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fish-Cleaning Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to improvements in fish cleaning mechanisms andrelates principally to such a mechanism which is manually operated.

Another object of the present improvement is to devise such an apparatuswhich will decapitate a number of fish, thoroughly clean and salt them,all of the fish unden going the above noted operations simultaneouslyand the machine operating with the least expense and effort possible.

(lther objects and advantages of the pres ent improvement will be setforth in the following description and drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved mechanism showing threedecapi tated fish in holders provided for them.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of one of the fish holders showing thesame in an open position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 1 having certain portions removed forconvenience in illustration.

Fig. 4L is a side elevation of thestandard attachment to which thesalting mechanism of the device is attached.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the intestine severingknife.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of the auxiliary standard forholding the decapis tating knife.

Referring now to the drawings in detail in which like reference numeralsdesignate similar parts throughout the several figures,

1 represents a horizontally disposed floor supported upon two side walls2 and 8, and an end wall 4;. The base of the machine being constructedinthis manner may be readilv moved from place to place and installed uponany form of table or bench desired. lVithin the side walls 2 and 3 arejournaled in any suitable manner revoluble shafts 5, 6, 7 and 8. Theshaft 5 has an elongated cylinder 9 eccentrically mounted the e pon and.positioned midway its end the said cylinder being designed to revolvebeneath the floor 1. Each of the shafts 6, 7 and 8 have a pair of spurgears or pinions rigidly fixed upon them, one pinion being adjacent eachend of each shaft. The pinions upon the shaft 6 are indicated by thenumerals 10 and 11; those upon the shaft 7 are designated 12 and 13; andthose upon the shaft 8 are designated 14 and 15. The shaft 5 isjournaled so as to be transverse the front of the standard, and directlyabove it suitable openings 16 are formed within the floor 1 and throughwhich the pivotal fislnholding elements extend.

The fish-holding elements are arranged in pairs, each of which comprisetwo upwardly extending relatively thin rectangular shaped metal wings 17and 18. These fish holding elements are shown in detail in Fig. 2. Eachof the wings 17 and 18 is formed with a, downwardly projecting portion20 at its front end, and a downwardly extending portion 19 at its rearend which forms bearings for shafts or rods 21 mountedtherewithin. Theshafts are pivotally mounted within suitable transverse angle bars 22and 2S securely fixed transverse the under front side of the floor 1.The downwardly ex tending portion 20 of each wing 17 and 18 has alateral extension 24 forming a crank arm which is adapted to engage thesurface of the eccentrically mounted cylinder 9. Suspended from theuppermost edges of the wings 17 and 1S and extending downward to a pointpractically level. with the top of the floor 1. is a fish holding saddlewhich is formed of a relatively thin piece of spring metal such as brassor the like,

and so folded upon itself as to normally remain in an. open or separatedposition. When the saddle 25 is placed upon the wings 17 and 18 it willtend to normally keep the said wings separated when the eccentric 9 isturned with its lesser projection engaging the crank arms 2 i-24l. Whentheshaft 5 is revolved to bring the greater projection of the eccentriccylinder 9 in engagement with the crank arms 24 24, the said crank armswill be raised to a position parallel with the shafts 21-21 whichmovement will close the wings 17 and 18 to the position shown in Fig. 1.Then the wings are in their closed position, they will firmly engage andhold the fish in a position so that they may be readily operated upon.The saddle crank may be readily slipped off of the shaft 5 and appliedto any one of the other shafts 6, 7, or 8 when it is desired to rotatethem for purposes hereinafter to be set forth.

I have illustrated in the drawings three dilferent sets of fish holdingreceptacles, and the device is arranged so as to cooperate with thismember. However, it is to be understood that the mechanism may beduplicated so as to accommodate any number of fish desired and thedescription and operation of a single pair of holders as above set forthapplies to all such members, as they are identical in all respects.

The description of the elements of the m achine for holding andoperating the differentsets of knives and a description of these kniveswill now be set forth. Spaced a distance back of the line parallel withthe extreme projecting ends 26 of the fish holding saddle 25 are aseries of longitudinal guideblocks 29 which are securely fastened to theupper surface of the floor 1 by means of bolts or rivets 30. There arefour of these guide-blocks mounted upon either side of the floor 1 andarranged parallel to each other, and slidably supported intermediateeach pair is a rack supporting member 31. The inner oppositely disposededges of the guide-blocks 29 are milled out longitudinally forming arectangular groove 32 therein within which groove is slidably mounted asimilarly shaped rib 33 formed upon the outer edges of the racksupporting members 31, whereby the said rack supporting mem bers mayslide back and forth in the said grooves. The rack supporting members 31are of a length preferably somewhat greater than the blocks 29 and areprovided at their front ends with rectangular shaped up- Kvardlyprojecting head portions 34. having rectangular shaped channels 35milled therethrough within the rearward extremity of which the lowerends of rack supporting arms 37 are pivotally mounted at 36. There aretwo arms 37 for each rack and the lowermost, or inner rack comprises twoarms 3737 and a cross bar 38; the outermost rack comprises two arms 3737and a cross bar 39; and the intermediate rack comprises two arms 3737and a cross bar 40. It is to be understood that all of the arms 37-37are similarly mounted upon the upwardly extending portions 34 of themembers 31. The three racks above described are formed for the purposeof supporting various sets of knives which operate upon the fish. Sincethe arms 37 of the racks are pivotally sup ported at their lower ends,the said racks may be lowered by hand to any desired positionlongitudinally of the fish which are held in the holders for engagementtherewith. WVhen one of the racks is lowered, the arms 3737 thereofdescend within the channels 3535 in the head blocks 34 34t and arefirmly guided laterally thereby. They .will descend until the arms 3737are in a position parallel with the blocks 3l31 at which time thelowermost edge of the said arms will rest upon the bottom of the channels 3535 and thereby determine the lowermost limit of the said arms,the fish engaging knives within the racks being so arranged as toproperly perform their functions when the bars 37 have reached thispre-determined point. The connecting bars 38, 39 and 40 of the racks arepreferably formed of angle iron and securely riveted to the ends oftheir respective arms 3737 as is clearly shown in Fig. 3.

A detailed description of the knives which are attached to the rackswill now be taken up. Three fish operating knives tl are securelyfastened in any desired manner to the bar 39 of the outermost rack andproject forward at right angles thereto, these knives being set just atrifle to one side of the center line of each fish when they are set inthe holders. The object of this is to cause the knives to engage thefish just to one side of the backbone thereof to prevent engagingthe'said backbone during the operation of cutting. Three scraper oreviscerating blades 42 are securely fastened to the bar 40 and areplaced in a line with the fish when they are held within the holders.

The blades 42 are of thin resilient metal preferably somewhatspoon-shaped at their free ends and bent at right angles at theiropposite ends and fastened directly to the bar 40 as is clearly shown inFig. 3. The resilient property of these eviscerating blades is toprevent their mutilating the fish in any manner when in operation andare only for the purpose-of removing the entrails of the fish. Threeintestinal severing knives 4.3 are securely fastened in any desiredmanner to the bar 38 and are placed in direct alinement with the threefish when in their holders, the said knives being arranged at rightangles to the bar 38. The knives 43 are formed of relatively stiffmaterial somewhat reduced in width at their lower ends, and theyterminate in a thin rectangularshaped cutting blade 44: which whenbrought into action and forced to their lowermost limit within the fishare designed to sever the recta of the fish'close to the posterioropenings therein.

The means for moving the racks longitudinally so that when they areswung radially the knives carried thereby will engage the Cir tratedherein.

fish consists in providing the six members 31 of the rack upon theirlower faces with a cogged surface which meshes with their cooperatingpinions mounted upon the shafts 6, 7 and 8. The racks 15 mesh with thepinions as follows:

The members 31 31 of the outermost rack mesh with the pinions 1 1 and15; the members 3181 of the innermost rack mesh with the piuious 10 and11; and the members 3131 of the intermediate rack mesh with the pinions12 and 13. The various racks may thus bemored back and forth by therevolving of their cooperating pinions which results may be accomplishedby manual power applied to the corresponding shafts asdesired, and bymeans of one or more cranks as above described. It is also to beunderstood that the racks may be operated back and forth by manual forceapplied directly to the various blade supporting bars 38, 39 and 10 ifsuch an operation is preferred to the crank system, which wouldpreferably be used principally in smaller sized machines such as areillus- Where a machine of this character is made sufficiently large tooperate upon, say ten of fifteen fish simultaneously, then doubtless thecrank method of operating the racks through the medium of the pinionswould be the best form to employ. The arms 37-37 of the various racksare maintained normally in a vertical position and thereby hold theknives out of engagement with the fish by means of suitable pieces 62 ofspring metal bent at substantially right angles and placed within theangle formed back of the heads 34: and on the top surface of the members31, each spring being securely fastened to the top of the said member 31by suitable rivets or screws 63. The upwardly projecting free ends ofthe spring will engage the rear wall. of the arms 3'7 and normally tendto keep them in alinement therewith as is evident. A decapitating knife46 is pivotally mounted upon the floor 1 and in a location to properlyengage the necks of the fish when brought into action. This knife ispivotally connected at 47 to a normally vertically extending link orstandard 48 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 49 within a suitablesupport 50 securely fastened to the floor 1. The link 18 is retainednormally in a vertical position by means of a spring 51 engaging anintegral pro jection 52 of the link at one end and fastened to the floorl at its opposite end at the point 58. The knife 46 is retained normally in a vertical position. within the link 18 by means of acounter-weight 54 formed integral therewith and extending in asubstantially opposite direction from the pivotal point 17 to that ofthe knife blade. An auxiliary pivoted standard 55 is fixed to the floor1 upon the opposite side of the fish holders to that of the knifesupport 48, but arranged in direct alinement with the said support. Thisstandard is pivoted at 56 within a support 57 securely fixed tothe floor1, and may be provided with any suitable means for keeping it normallyin an upright position. The means here shown for accomplishing thisresult is a depending eounterweight 5S rigidly fixed to the pivot 56upon which the standard is fixed, whereby the said standard is normallyretained in a vertical position as shown. The upper end of the standard55 as is shown in Fig. 6 is bifurcated and supplied with a cross pin 59for engagement with a shank 0 of the free end of the decapitating knife46 when the latter is brought down for the decapitating process. Ahandle 61 is formed upon the extreme end of the knife =16 to render theoperation of the same more convenient. When the knife 16 is loweredready for action upon the necks of the fish in the holders, the shankwill rest upon the pin 59 within the auxiliary standard 55 and theopposite end of the knife will be supported upon the pivot 47 in thestandard or link 13. When the operation of decapitating is desired, theknifeis forced still farther downward and resting upon the pivot,supports 48 and 55, will be prevented from descending in a perpendicularcourse, but will be caused to travel longitudinally as it descends, dueto the tipping down of the standards 4-8 and 55, and thus produce ashearing out upon the fish which is essential to the satisfactorysevering of so delicate an object.

The mechanism for salting the fish will now be described. Upon theoutside walls of each of the two extreme outside guideblocks 29 isrigidly fixed an upwardly projecting angular block or bracket G t-6 1which have pivotally mounted therein at 65 arms 66-66 which normallyextend upwardly and have attached to their uppermost ends a salt boxsupporting bar 67 which carries rigidly fixed thereto intermediate itsends a salt box 68. The said box may be of any desired construction, butof a dimension extending from the bar a distance substantially equal tothe longi tudinal opening formed within the fish to be salted, so thatwhen the salt box 68 is lowered for action above the fish as is shown indotted lines in Fig. 3, it will supply salt to the entire exposed areaof the fish just cleaned. A series of holes 69 are formed in the side ofthe box and are placed directly in alinement with each fish to be saltedthrough which the salt is supplied from the box to the fish whendesired. The holes 69 are of a size so that when the box is in itsnormal vertical position, salt will not be discharged therefrom to anyconsiderable extent, but when lowered to a horizontal position andshaken, will readily dispense the salt upon the fish within the holderssimultaneously.

A cover of the salt box 68 may be made so as to be slidablelongitudinally the box and readily removable for replenishing the supplyof salt when the box is in its uppermost position. The arms 66-56 areretained normally in a vertical position by means of angular springs 71as is shown in Fig. 4: which are arranged in a manner identical with thesprings (52 which engage the arm 37 the knife supporting racks. A ledge'72 is formed upon the inside of each bracket (54; and upon which thearms GU rest when lmvered to their extreme horizontal position, and aresupported within this position by the said ledge 72..

.skfter the fish have been cut open and cleaned, it is necessary to washthem and for this purpose a water supply pipe 73 is installed adjacentthe side of the floor 1 opposite to that upon which. the decapitatingknife -l-(i is mounted. The pipe 73 is provided with a section 74pivotally attached thereto by means of an elbow connection 75 and 76whereby the section 74- may be lowered to a point just above the fishwithin the holders, or the said section may be left standing verticallyas is shown in the drawings. The end of the section 74!: is stopped.with a suitable cap 77 and is provided with a plurality of holes 78which are so positioned as to occur just above each fish Within theholders when the section 74 is lowered to a point just above andparallel with the fish. After the fish have been operated upon by theknives as above described, water may be turned on by a valve 79 and thefish all washed out simultaneously. After this operation is completed,the section 7-1; may be quickly returned to its original position.

lVhile I have shown the decapitating knife as being pivoted at one sideof the fish holders. it may be found practical to suspend it in apivotal frame similar to those which support the salt boX and fishengaging knives which may in some instance prove a more compact andconvenient method.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the machine to bepositioned in readiness for the operation of cleaning fish. a fish isplaced preferably back up within each pair of holders. The shaft 5 isthen revolved to present the greatest projecting portion of theeccentric 9 to the crank arms 24- of the holders which will cause thesaid holders to tightly close around each fish. The bar 39 carrying theknives 41 is then brought downward and forward. either directly by handor by revolving its cooperating shaft 8 as above eX- -plained until thepoints of the knives 41 are directly over the most forward end of thecut to be made in the backs of the fish. The bar is then forced downwardvertically to its limit which will cause one of the knives 41 to pierceeach fish through to its abdominal cavity. Then the bar is movedlongitudinally backward until the fish are split the entire length ofthe said cavity at which time the bar 39 is raised and allowed to assumeits inactive vertical position. The decapitating knife 46 is thenbrought down and the heads of the fish severed from their bodies as hasbeen before described. The eccentric 9 is then turned to its oppositepositionv which will open the holders and allow the fish to assume anopened position as illustrated in Fig. 2. The bar 38 carrying theintestine severing knives 43 is then brought forward and lowered untilthe knives enter the opened cavities of the fish, preferably justforward of the rearmost portion thereof. If the fish happen to be of anunequalv length, they are lined up rearwardly by pushing the bar 38backward until the knives L3 engage the rear termini of the openings inall of the fish at which time the bar 88 is forced downward to the limitof its lowermost travel which will cause the severing of the recta ofthe fish by the knife blades 44. While these knives still remain inposition, the bar 40 carrying the eviscerating blades L2 is broughtforward and lowered with the blades 42 directly in front and close tothe knives 43 so that they may be sure to remove all of the entrailsfrom the fish.

The bar l0 is then drawn toward the operator quickly thereby making theact of eviscera'tion completewhen the last two mentioned bars arereturned to their normal vertical positions.

Any suitable form of shield, not shown, may be installed in front of themachine to protect the operator while the machine is working. After thefish have been cut and cleaned as above described, the section 74 of thewater pipe is brought down over them, the water turned on and the fishthoroughly cleansed by a single application. The pipe 74; is thenreturned to its original position and the salt box 68 swung down to apoint directly over the now open and clean fish and by a slight jarringof the bOX the salting of the fish is accomplished. The box is thenreturned to its inactive position andthe fish removed leaving themachine ready for a subsequent trick.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: I

1. A fish cleaning mechanism comprising a framework, fish holdingdevices carried by the said framework, movable members mounted upon thesaid framework, knives carried by the said members, the said knivesadapted to be brought in contact with the fish.

2. A fish cleaningmechanism comprising a framework, fish. holdingdevices carried thereby, nlembers movably mounted upon the framework, aplurality of knives carried by the said members, said members movabletoward and away from the fish in a vertical plane and thereby adapted tobring the knives in engagement with the fish within the holders.

3. A fish cleaning mechanism comprising a base, fish holding devicescarried thereby, a plurality of ii-shaped members having their endspivotally mounted upon the base, cleaning knives carried by the saidmembers, said members movable toward and away from the fish in averticalplane.

4:. A fish cleaning mechanism comprising a framework, fish holdingdevices mounted thereupon, a plurality of U-shaped members of graduatedsizes arranged one within the other and having their ends pivotallymounted upon the framework, a plurality of knives ,carried by the saidmembers, said members movable toward and away from the fish in avertical plane, and means for normally holding the said members in avertical position.

5. A fish cleaning mechanism comprising a framework, a plurality of fishholding devices mounted thereupon, a plurality of U- shaped members ofgraduated sizes mounted one within the other, the lower ends of the saidmembers pivotally connected to the framework, a plurality of knivescarried by the said members, the said members movable toward and awayfrom the fish in a vertical plane, and means for normally holding thesaid members in a vertical position, and a decapitating knife located atone side of the framework and in a line with the front end of the fishholding devices, said knife adapted to swing in a vertical plane andengage the necks of the fish held within the holding devices.

6. A fish cleaning mechanism comprising a framework, a plurality of fishholding devices carried thereby, a plurality of U- shaped members ofgraduated sizes mounted one within the other, a plurality oflongitudinally movable members mounted within the framework, the lowerends of the said U- shaped members pivotally connected to the saidlongitudinal members, the said if shaped members movable in a verticalplane in reference to the fish holding devices, a plurality of cleaningknives, carried by the said members, the parts arranged as and for thepurpose described.

7. A fish cleaning mechanism comprising a framework, a plurality of fishholding devices mounted thereupon, a plurality of LE- shaped members ofgraduated sizes mounted one within the other, the lower ends of the saidmembers pivotally connected to the framework, a plurality of knives,carried by the said members. said members movable toward and away fromthe fish in a vertical plane, means for normally holding the saidmembers in a vertical position.

A fish cleaning mechanism, comprising a framework, fish holding devicescarried by the said framework, the said devices adapted to clamp andrelease the fish, movable members mounted upon the. said framework,knives carried by the said members, the said knives adapted to bebrought in contact with the fish.

9. A. fish cleaning mechanism, comprising a framework, fish holdingdevices carried by the said framework, said devices adapted-to clamp andrelease the fish, and means adapted to operate all of the fish holdingdevices simultaneously, movable members mounted upon the said framework,and knives carried by the said members, the said knives adapted to bebrought in contact with the fish.

10. A fish cleaning mechanism, comprising a framework, fish holdingdevices carried by the said framework, said devices comprising a saddleto receive the fish, supporting members for the said saddle, meansengaging the lower ends of the said supporting members to open and shutthe said saddle, movable members mounted upon the said framework, knivescarried by the said members, the said knives adapted to be brought incontact with the fish within the holding device, the parts arranged asand for the purpose described.

11. A. fish cleaning mechanism comprising a framework, a plurality offish holding devices carried by the framework and arranged in a line onebeside the other, said devices comprising U-shaped saddle supportingmembers for the said saddle, an eccentrio roller mounted in theframework and engaging the lower ends of the said support ing members,whereby the fish within the saddles are clamped and released as the .eccentric engages or releases the lower ends of the supporting members,movable members mounted upon the said framework, and knives carried bythe said members, the said knives adapted to be brought in contact withthe fish within the holding devices.

12. The combination with a fish cleaning device having a pivotallyoperated decapitating knife of a plurality of fish holding de vices, aplurality of knives and cleaning elements pivotally mounted adjacent theholding devices and means for manually bringing the knives and cleaningdevices in contact with fish within the holders.

13. In a fish cleaning device, the combination with a plurality of fishholding means of a decapitating knife pivotally mounted adjacent theholding means whereby a plurality of fish within the holders may bedecapitated simultaneously.

14. In a fish cleaning device, the combination with a plurality of fishholding means, of a salting mechanism pivotally mounted adjacent theholding means, whereby a plurality of fish within the holders may besalted simultaneously.

15. In a fish cleaning device, the combination with a plurality of fishholding means, a plurality of knives, cleaning elements and saltingmeans carried by the framework, and means for manually bringing theknives, cleaning devices and salting l5 mechanism in contact with thefish within the holders.

In testimony whereof I hereunto alfix my signature inthe presence of twowitnesses.

EDWVARD P. FOLLETT.

Witnesses:

W. H. DENHAM, S. GEO. STEVENS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

